Well, it's been nearly 20 years
since Nancy Kerrigan was clubbed after practice in Detroit by a member of a
bumbling goon squad hired by Tonya Harding's ex-husband with the hope of
eliminating his former wife's top competition for the U.S. Olympic team. The
assault led to a soap opera that practically created tabloid television
journalism, taking what had for decades been a niche sport and putting it
squarely into the media mainstream.

By the time a recovered Kerrigan and
a besieged Harding reached Lillehammer, their saga was front-page news and
can't-miss TV.

"Mainstream media was
constantly looking for the next juicy story, and they were insatiable and they
were intrusive,'' said Scott Hamilton, the 1984 Olympic champion who pretty
much has been the voice of the sport since then."What I saw and read was
alarming. From the New York Times and Washington Post to the National Enquirer,
World News and the other tabloids -- every member of the media on all levels,
no matter their affiliation -- they were kind of equal for that moment in
pursuing this story.”

"It kind of shook me. This was
a desperate appetite, a desperate nature. And it kind of dovetailed into the
O.J. Simpson stuff later.''

Yet the attention figure skating
would get from the scandal was a boon for the sport.

Often considered elitist because of
its expense, and only something to watch whenever the Winter Olympics rolled
around, skating entered an entirely different realm because of Tonya and Nancy.

That surge in popularity lasted for
the rest of the 1990s.

"It really expanded skating so
much to the point that it was unsustainable,'' says Byron Allen, who produces
the Stars On Ice tour as IMG Worldwide's senior vice-president. "What was
there for the time was fabulous, and there was so much interest from all
angles. Not only for the sport -- it did expand the sport -- but from the
entertainment side, and the scandal side.

"People became household names
rapidly with so much exposure ... it developed the industry so quickly and so
large. But it created unrealistic expectations.''

Suddenly, with the exception of
Harding, who would be banned from the sport for life for her role in the
attack, skaters were in demand. From the Olympic winners at Lillehammer such as
Oksana Baiul, who edged Kerrigan for the gold, to past champions and legends,
TV networks couldn't get enough of skating.

Even in non-Olympic years, arenas
wanted the two major tours -- Stars On Ice and Champions On Ice -- along with
any other shows featuring folks who could jump, spin and twirl. Both tours were
visiting cities across the United States and Canada, and heading off to Europe,
Asia, and even to the non-skating continents.

Tom Collins, who owned Champions On
Ice for three decades, said business "quadrupled when that incident
happened. It put skating in the stratosphere; you couldn't sell enough
tickets.''

It was, by far, the most lucrative
period for skaters in the sport's history. Some of the biggest names were
regularly pulling in seven figures.

"Clearly there was an explosion
in the sport's popularity and exposure, which was fun to be part of,'' Kerrigan
said.

Taking note of the incredible ratings, the networks clamored for more.
Made-for-television shows, like "Skating with the Stars,” "Battle
of the Sexes on Ice and “Ice Wars” filled air time as figure skating
became must-see-TV.

With so few true competitions on the schedule, TV folks started creating
their own. Along with themed shows, there were mixtures of skating and live
music, or skating and other sports (gymnastics, most notably).

It was a free-for-all, and some sort of
figure skating could be found nearly every night.

"I was producing some of those shows," 1988 Olympic gold medalist Brian Boitano aid, "but I was also hired as one of the headliners for
those. I believe in 1995, we had 13 prime-time network pro competitions. Paul Wylie did all of them. I only did five of them; didn't have the energy to
do more"

"It was full time, nonstop. Networks
were buying anything. I remember a rock 'n roll competition judged by
Playboy bunnies."

Along with so many programs came so much
money. Skaters who had to scrounge to make ends meet in their developmental
years became millionaires.

"There was no sense during that point
of going overboard," Dustin says. "All these skaters felt all of a
sudden that their talent was being appreciated, and on a larger scale than they
reached before, except in the Olympics. I wouldn't call these silly shows,
either. You wanted to look at them as legitimate and we tried to do so, getting
real skating aficionados as judges. We were all the same guys who covered the
Olympics and were a part of figure skating."

But the TV bonanza had become too much a
part of figure skating. It led to overkill, and by the end of the 1990s, with
the exception of Olympic-related events, the spotlight was dimming.

Now it's a big deal if NBC airs a highlight
package of a Grand Prix event.

"I think it comes down to story
lines," Dustin says. "Think about Nancy and Tonya and what
unbelievable drama it was. Those story lines got old or went away."